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Balram In The White Tiger

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Balram, the main protagonist in The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, tells a story from his perspective of his escape from oppression through any means possible. While corruption and cheating may be problems deeply rooted in the lower class, it nonetheless still prevails within the upper class. Hence, The White Tiger suggests that individuals, whether rich or poor, have to sacrifice their morals and values as they fight ruthlessly for survival within a corrupt society. In a community where money entitles one to respect and power, members who are less privileged come to realize that in order to break out of “the rooster coop,” (147) one must be willing to sacrifice everything. This includes, but is not limited to, family and traditional values …show more content…

In his letter to The Premier, Balram mentions that “India is two countries in one: an India of Light, and an India of Darkness” (12). Because people usually associate “Light” with honor and integrity and “Darkness” with immorality, this results in two parallels, and divides India into two distinct societies. His significant transformation from a “sweet, innocent village fool into a citified fellow full of debauchery, depravity and wickedness” shows that he is someone who will fight for what he wants through any means possible (167). It is not about how one gets there, but rather that one gets there in the end. You either “eat—or get eaten up,” which is represented by _________________ (54). Everything Balram did from when he left Laxmangarh to when he became successful and “helped make new Bangalore” was for his own advantage (273). When Ashok began drinking after Pinky left, Balram told him he had to “believe in god and keep going on” not because he genuinely cared for him, but because he wouldn’t have anyone to “pay him three and a half thousand rupees a month” (159). The selfishness imbedded in him led him to conclude that the only ticket out of darkness was to murder his master, which goes against his personality in beginning when he felt guilty for something as trivial as outing a driver for

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The White Tiger In the novel The White Tiger, Adiga points out at the corrupt Indian society, using the narrator Balram Halwai. Born in a poor village, Balram starts life in the lower caste and rises to the top later in his life. Balram uses the metaphor of the Rooster Coop to explain how oppressed the poor of the India are. Balram knows that he needs to break out of the coop to get from the Darkness to the Light. The Rooster Coop holds back Balram from making his own decisions and succeeding, but as soon as he escapes from the coop, he becomes one of the winners in society.

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Introduction Chapter 1 Aravind Adiga who was born on 23 October 1974 is an Indian-Australian writer and journalist. His debut novel, The White Tiger, won the 2008 Man Booker Prize. The novel studies the contrast between India's rise as a modern global economy and the lead character, Balram, who comes from crushing rural poverty. The novel provides a darkly humorous perspective of India’s class struggle in a globalized world as told through a retrospective narration from Balram Halwai, a village boy. In detailing Balram's journey first to Delhi, where he works as a chauffeur to a rich landlord, and then to Bangalore, the place to which he flees after killing his master and stealing his money, the novel examines issues of religion, caste, loyalty,

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